[rahul412]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Am i reading it correctly in the brochure?

This car has only driver side airbag as safety feature, that too optional in top variant ! And no ABS at all even as option?

You sound surprised. This was made clear long back. There is a glovebox on top of the dash, no place to install a passenger side airbag. Anyways its an A segment car weighing just 660 kgs wonder how effective airbag is going to be in such a light weighted car.

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by rahul412

You sound surprised. This was made clear long back. There is a glovebox on top of the dash, no place to install a passenger side airbag. Anyways its an A segment car weighing just 660 kgs wonder how effective airbag is going to be in such a light weighted car.

The airbag will be effective as long as the basic shell remains intact in a crash. But the car weights so little, makes me doubt the structural integrity part.

[rsm97]

Originally Posted by rahul412

You sound surprised. This was made clear long back. There is a glovebox on top of the dash, no place to install a passenger side airbag. Anyways its an A segment car weighing just 660 kgs wonder how effective airbag is going to be in such a light weighted car.

In full agreement that airbag can no way cover for the structural weakness of the shell. Such low weight figure sounds worrisome, more so since Kwid is not as small as Alto or Eon. Renault has not offered any explanation on low weight, the way Maruti did at the time of Ciaz's launch. Though the initial impression has been good on me, before considering further will definitely wait for expert/owner's view about build and stability.

[SandyX]

I'm not sure how much this is gonna answer it or convince anyone, but this is what they have to say about the weight-safety part. But that in no way explains or justifies the lack of ABS even as an option in this age, but can't blame them fully either for going by the law or competition.

[pugram]

I happened to see the car in 'flesh' today, for a few brief seconds. Looks wonderful and the front grill looks good too. It was the brown colored car. It does look like a proper hatch and seems like it belongs to a higher segment.

From certain angles, it reminded me of the Micra.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by rahul412

You sound surprised. This was made clear long back. There is a glovebox on top of the dash, no place to install a passenger side airbag. Anyways its an A segment car weighing just 660 kgs wonder how effective airbag is going to be in such a light weighted car.

Of course I am surprised.
More so given the criticism vetted out to Maruti and Hyundai for making relatively unsafe cars and lack of safety features (read thread on Grand i10 Latino crash test).

And here we have a car which doesnt even have passenger airbag and ABS at all and an "optional" driver airbag that too in top end, yet the same folks who stand so much for these safety features elsewhere in forum are apparently not very concerned here.

But this is really shocking actually, didn't expect this from Renault.

P.S. And I don't buy the argument of weight having anything to do with absence/presence of airbags/abs.

[SandyX]

Following is the abs/airbag specs for the direct competition to kwid. All 800cc & similar price range. None of them sport ABS yet, nor is it mandatory. It's a sad fact, in effect from a long time. Also, airbags seem to be optional in most of them too. I wonder why people expected anything more from an entry level town car which its competition equally lacks. Hope they are not confusing it with the segment of wagonr, swift, i10 etc. The bummer for Kwid is its lack of passenger airbag.

[Chillout]

It was evident from Day 1,that we couldn't expect much on the safety front and Carlos Goshn made that very obvious. So I am not surprised at all.

However as I stated in my other posts, this practice will continue as long as there is no mandate from the government and public value money more than their life.

We have seen the car touching 140 kmph and without any protection that is facing death headon. Hope people realize that and drive cautiously.

Originally Posted by DCEite

Of course I am surprised.
More so given the criticism vetted out to Maruti and Hyundai for making relatively unsafe cars and lack of safety features (read thread on Grand i10 Latino crash test).

And here we have a car which doesnt even have passenger airbag and ABS at all and an "optional" driver airbag that too in top end, yet the same folks who stand so much for these safety features elsewhere in forum are apparently not very concerned here.

But this is really shocking actually, didn't expect this from Renault.

P.S. And I don't buy the argument of weight having anything to do with absence/presence of airbags/abs.

[motorworks]

Renault has always mentioned that the KWid will be an entry level small car and never directly pitched it against the Alto and the Eon. So let's not now start making statements that the product will not be VFM if it's not priced at par with alto/eon.

I clearly see the KWid as a great alternative to the erstwhile Zen or even the A-star. It would be fair if they did price it at par with the celerio and the older i10. It would be mean that the KWid will be still cheaper than all the B+ hatch backs but just a little premium over the alto / eon duos, which I think would be very fair.

[SandyX]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Renault has always mentioned that the KWid will be an entry level small car and never directly pitched it against the Alto and the Eon. So let's not now start making statements that the product will not be VFM if it's not priced at par with alto/eon.

A screenshot from kwid's internal training video. The trainer team is from France. You can find the video here. Whether they announce publicly or not, they do know what they're up against with the .8L motor.

[RitanRex]

I'm looking to buy my first car within the next 30 days, and the Kwid's held a special place in my heart and mind ever since it was unveiled in May. However, excited as I am, I can't help but think of some killjoys, based on the limited understanding that I have got from having researched this segment for about a year now.

Firstly, yes the Kwid has unique class defining looks, but it's not the first to have done so in this segment. The Eon (while very different in looks from the Kwid) was the first to use gorgeous looks to tempt people away from the Alto, but that only worked to a limited degree, as I'll explain later. So there's no guarantee that the Kwid will be a hot seller purely on the basis of its looks.

Secondly, the accessories and customization ploy isn't entirely new either. Renault/Nissan tried it too with the Datsun Go (web link here - https://www.datsun.co.in/vehicles/ne...cessories.html). But for some reason, I haven't seen a single customised Go on the roads. Maybe because the number of Gos itself are quite less, but also maybe a lot of the customisation options don't often trickle down to the local dealerships.

Now to the 2 aspects which everyone believe will be absolutely crucial in determining the fate of the Kwid.

1) Price - I've seen some suggesting that it's okay if the price is near ever the Celerio and to my mind it's immediately a BIG no. Given that it's an 800 cc car, it's immediate target rival logically should be the Alto 800, or the at most the Eon in terms of price.

Price matters in this segment more than any other in the industry. A gap of 30,000 Rs may not be much in a 6-7 lakh segment but can be a deal-breaker in a 3-4 lakh bracket - which is why, IMO, the Eon failed. From my own personal example - my first choice was the Eon because of its looks, but I soon realized that variant-for-variant, the Alto 800 was priced as much as a whopping 80,000 lesser. So instead of buying the Eon, I could either buy the 800 and save 20% of my budget, or go in for the more powerful Alto K10. Even the top specced Eon 800, or the 1.0 are perilously close to the WagonR - again a far bigger car. Renault NEED to get the pricing absolutely bang on in this segment otherwise the car will never be a major volumes player.

2) Experience of selling and supporting a car in this segment. To my mind, there are only two makers who have achieved a fraction of the success Maruti has in the A and B1 segments - Hyundai and Tata. And neither of it got at the first go. Hyundai learnt tons of lessons from the early years of the Santro, kept improving it, brought in new offerings which were flops (Getz), then brought it others which were hits (i10), before finally getting it right. Tata hit paydirt for a while with the Indica V2, but could never sustain the momentum. And neither of them has managed a success in the A segment yet (the Eon has a moderate response, while the Nano tanked). So what hope does Renault have of getting it right in the first go?

3) Dealer competence. The dealership in Noida, where I live, opened less than a month ago. I have my doubts as to whether it seriously can sustain the service and maintenance volumes of a mass product straight off the bat. If the Kwid is half as successful as Renault hopes it to be, it will sell more than the rest of its products combined - including the Duster. Frankly, is Renault equipped to handle such a large spurt in volumes, given that its A.S.S track record so far has been patchy?

I'm not saying that the Kwid is doomed the fail. All I feel is that as someone who has to make a purchase within the next 30 days, it will be too risky to bet on a car which is yet to be launched, made by a company that has no experience in this segment. My requirements are after all that of every other first time car owner in this segment - a car which is easy to buy and maintain - a car that will not punish its owner for the slightest lapse in attention towards taking care of it. And for that alone, I have no choice but to lean towards a Maruti.

I'll be very grateful if someone can set the record straight over some of the points I've mentioned and dispute them. After all, my head may say Maruti but my heart passionately says Kwid and I would love for it to be proven right!

[Satishtv]

A couple of questions -

1) will the weight of the car @660 kg not be an issue?

2) Irrespective of what Renault says is this car built on the Datsun Go platform?

[praveen_n]

Originally Posted by RitanRex

I'm not saying that the Kwid is doomed the fail. All I feel is that as someone who has to make a purchase within the next 30 days, it will be too risky to bet on a car which is yet to be launched, made by a company that has no experience in this segment. My requirements are after all that of every other first time car owner in this segment - a car which is easy to buy and maintain - a car that will not punish its owner for the slightest lapse in attention towards taking care of it. And for that alone, I have no choice but to lean towards a Maruti.

I'll be very grateful if someone can set the record straight over some of the points I've mentioned and dispute them. After all, my head may say Maruti but my heart passionately says Kwid and I would love for it to be proven right!

This is one of the reasons why most of the people are turning towards maruti but I beg to differ .

Companies like Renault are here to stay and they would provide support for their cars. Take the case of fluence or Micra or even the fiat. They are a flop when it comes to sales and yet the companies are supporting it.

Kwid (atleast in reviews) seems to be a well built car and Renault has promised the lowest cost of ownership.

Regarding your query regarding the vehicle price , consider a scenario between Nano and Alto. Nano is almost 20 % cheaper compared to alto,is more spacious than alto and is cheap to maintain . Would you go for a nano then?

We get what we pay for. Even if Kwid is priced 10 or 20 % more than an Alto its still VFM due of the following
More Interior space
Larger boot
Better ride an Handling
More Features

I would recommend you to take a test drive of all the cars in the segment before you make a decision.

[praveen_n]

Originally Posted by Satishtv

A couple of questions -

1) will the weight of the car @660 kg not be an issue?

2) Irrespective of what Renault says is this car built on the Datsun Go platform?

I do not believe weight will be an issue in this segment. What matters is the structural integrity and crumple zones. Most manufacturers these days are using various methodologies to reduce the vehicle weight.
An old gen Mercedes c200 is heavier than the current one but that would not make the old one safer .

As for the platform if does not look to be using the same platform but we could only go by what Renault says

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by praveen_n

I do not believe weight will be an issue in this segment. What matters is the structural integrity and crumple zones. Most manufacturers these days are using various methodologies to reduce the vehicle weight.
An old gen Mercedes c200 is heavier than the current one but that would not make the old one safer .

As for the platform if does not look to be using the same platform but we could only go by what Renault says

Kwid is just 50kg lighter than the competition and its competition is the Eon/Alto but as per Autocar its got more space than a segment above cars too and handles well for 180mm ground clearance.